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Steelers run defense not respected anymore

Opening drive, Texans moved it at will. Started at the 5. 2 or 3 holding calls, and still run it right down the Steelers throat. Blitzes were picked up, tackling was late. 19 plays, 95 yds. 10:55 opening drive.

Arian Foster and the Texans had 90 yds rushing in the first 18 minutes of the game. Foster had 70 yds himself midway through the first quarter. Hampton was getting blown up at the point of attack. Hood was way out of position on several occasions. Polamalu, Foote, Clark, Gay, Woodley all missing tackles or getting to the ball carrier a half step too late. You just can't recover from that type of play when they keep pounding it at you. Well, you should be able to recover but it's clear the Steelers cannot.

They are getting beat at the point of attack, that's the troubling thing. Teams are handing the ball off the back is just getting through the first wave of our defense usually without being touched. By the time anybody lays a hand on the ball carrier he's already got 7 yds.

That play where Foster was stopped when the Texans were inside their own 10, there was no pursuit or follow up and he turned it into a 21 yd run. It's this type of mental errors, lack of concentration, and poor execution that is ravaging what was once the best run defense in the NFL. Teams don't respect the Steelers ability to do anything on defense this year. Anybody and everybody has and will run on the Steelers this year until they prove they can stop it.

Saw a stat in the 4th quarter. On Foster's 42 yd TD run, the longest TD run allowed by a Steelers defense since 2006. With 2 minutes to go had 146 yds on the ground.

I hate to say this, and I may get chewed up for it, but I was kind of impressed with our rush defense more than I thought I would be. They screwed the pooch in the first half for sure, I mean Foster got almost 100 yards in 2 quarters. BUT they only allowed 10 points regardless of that, with the help of penalties or not, and that's something to be noted.

And yes, the 41 yard run in the second half was bad, but other than that they stopped everything coming their way in the most important times in the second half. They gave the offense multiple chances, time after time after time to win the game. I blame the offense 100% more than I blame the run defense. Not to mention Arian Foster is one of the top 5 rushers in the league. We aren't gonna see that kind of adversity every game.

I hate to say this, and I may get chewed up for it, but I was kind of impressed with our rush defense more than I thought I would be. They screwed the pooch in the first half for sure, I mean Foster got almost 100 yards in 2 quarters. BUT they only allowed 10 points regardless of that, with the help of penalties or not, and that's something to be noted.

And yes, the 41 yard run in the second half was bad, but other than that they stopped everything coming their way in the most important times in the second half. They gave the offense multiple chances, time after time after time to win the game. I blame the offense 100% more than I blame the run defense. Not to mention Arian Foster is one of the top 5 rushers in the league. We aren't gonna see that kind of adversity every game.

Lets look at it for a sec here:

They've played against Chris Johnson a few times and held him way under 100y.
Last time we played against Adrian Peterson he ran for around 68y.

This year, when we meet a good RB we give them 140y and 160y (I dont recall the exact numbers). There is absolutely nothing to be impressed of, other than the fact that we are going to rank pretty much last against the run after this week. A good thing is that we'll rank almost 1 against the pass although it is because teams don't pass against us because there is no need to. We don't score points and they can run on us. The perfect combo!

--- Added 10/2/2011 at 03:08 PM ---

Originally Posted by Thisoneguy555

If Troy doesn't miss that tackle on that 42 yard run, it's a different story right now. Steelers stuffed Foster pretty much the entire 2nd half up until that run.

If Woodley was even REMOTELY close at taking care of his gap instead of walking around in the backfield doing nothing, Troy would not even "have" to miss that tackle though.

However much you think you know about football, rest assured that Skip Bayless knows more!

They've played against Chris Johnson a few times and held him way under 100y.
Last time we played against Adrian Peterson he ran for around 68y.

This year, when we meet a good RB we give them 140y and 160y (I dont recall the exact numbers). There is absolutely nothing to be impressed of, other than the fact that we are going to rank pretty much last against the run after this week. A good thing is that we'll rank almost 1 against the pass although it is because teams don't pass against us because there is no need to. We don't score points and they can run on us. The perfect combo!

I don't care if they give up 400 yards rushing as long as they don't let them score. The Texans only scored 10 points in the first half, with a touchdown on the opening drive. I'm sorry, I can't put this game on the defense at all. The offense was far from doing them any favors out there.

I don't care if they give up 400 yards rushing as long as they don't let them score. The Texans only scored 10 points in the first half, with a touchdown on the opening drive. I'm sorry, I can't put this game on the defense at all. The offense was far from doing them any favors out there.

Well, you should care then The first series of the game took like 11 minutes. Even if the Steelers had the best o-line in the game they would loose if the couldnt stop the run. The offense just wouldnt see the field at all. Sure, they may not have scored too many points but that was not the Steelers defense fault as much as Texans doing their best to loose by penalties and whatnot.

However much you think you know about football, rest assured that Skip Bayless knows more!

Well, you should care then The first series of the game took like 11 minutes. Even if the Steelers had the best o-line in the game they would loose if the couldnt stop the run. The offense just wouldnt see the field at all. Sure, they may not have scored too many points but that was not the Steelers defense fault as much as Texans doing their best to loose by penalties and whatnot.

And that 11 minute drive was really only the good on all game. The second touchdown drive was blown on one play. The first series of the game for the defense was really the only one I noticed where they really imploded. I'll take one bad series a game if you can give me 10 good ones.